“Where is Eva?” Derek asked as I approached, panic in his voice even as he sank a blade into some poor bastard’s throat.
“Exactly where you instructed her to be.”
“Go to her.”
“I’m not your wife’s personal bodyguard. I already saved her once.”
It was the second time I had a gun in my face. Only this one was aimed at me with intent. Derek Cain would drag his dick through broken glass for Evangelina. It was disturbing and maybe a little sad, but a part of me also felt envious of such an unconditional devotion. Perhaps because I knew it was something that I would never experience. But I couldn’t miss something I’d never had.
So fuck him and his wife.
Kai stepped between us when I raised my gun, shielding me from his brother.
“Cut the shit, Derek. Eva is fine. No one else dies here today.”
Derek lowered his weapon when his brother was in his line of fire. He watched me, even as he wrenched his knife from the dead man’s body, taking one last glance before standing and heading toward his wife.
“I thought I told you I didn’t need a hero.”
Kai started after Derek. “Sometimes what we think we need is different from reality. And you were two seconds from joining your friend back there.”
He was several steps away when I said, “It would have been easier for you that way.”
“Maybe. But I already told you, I don’t run. I don’t hide.” He’d stopped walking but didn’t turn to face me.
There was something different about this man. I couldn’t pinpoint it. It was just a feeling—an intuition. But I decided right then and there that I didn’t like how it made me feel.
Uncomfortable.
Unsure.
Sudden rapid-fire shots rang out. Derek yelled for Evangelina when the cries of his little girl followed. I took off after him and Kai, both in a full sprint toward where Eva was emptying her magazine into the body of one of the assailants.
I ran past her, spotting the baby on her hands and knees in the brush several feet away. Tucking my gun inside the back waistband of my pants, I bent down and picked up the one-year-old, and gave her a quick once-over. Apart from some superficial scratches, she seemed okay.
“No llores,” (Don’t cry.) I whispered, holding her to my chest. But the baby was too agitated and didn’t know who the hell I was. She shoved me away, attempting to claw out of my grasp. Kai reached for his niece from behind me, assessed her briefly, and then kissed her forehead before tucking her securely in his arms. Valentina settled almost immediately and fisted his shirt as she sniffled.
Our eyes connected. “Thank you.”
2
Highland Park, Texas
Villa Dorada
Theclicking of her heels on the cobblestone was the only sound echoing off the walls of that courtyard. From the moment we reached the Montesinos estate, Amalia had taken off, and I gave chase. I needed answers, and she was the only one who would know what the hell had happened back there and why her driver and two of her team were dead.
“Amalia! Wait.”
She didn’t stop. Didn’t look back. Her pace remained steady as we reached a large stone fountain. Fed up with being ignored, I caught her wrist, only to be met with a Glock to the chest. I’d been in the presence of this woman for less than twenty-four hours, and she’d already shoved a gun in my face twice.
“Let go.”
“Tell me what happened back there. Who were those men? And why were they targeting you?”
Ripping her hand from my grasp, she narrowed her gaze. While she hadn’t shed tears for her fallen friends, her brown eyes gleamed with emotion.
“Are you serious? What makes you think I’m the target? You and your brother have made your share of enemies, no? Not even in town ten minutes, and we get ambushed.”
